Tennessee Ridge water loss efforts show results

TENNESSEE RIDGE, Tenn. – Members of the city’s Board of Commissioners have learned that their water loss efforts are paying off, and they learned they must de-annex a small part of the city.

After last month, approving $20,000 for Rye Engineering to begin leak detection procedures on the city’s water system, Seth Rye reported that so far the testing has identified 22 water loss issues.

“By no means are we finished,” he told board members at their July 7 meeting. “That’s just on our first pass through.”

Tennessee Ridge, like many other municipalities across the state, is having to reduce the water loss in their systems to comply with a new way the state’s Water and Waste Water Financing Board audits water departments.

The audit for Tennessee Ridge shows the system has a 45 percent loss, which means 45 percent of the water purchased from the City of Erin cannot be accounted for with revenue from its sale to Tennessee Ridge customers.

The city must reduce its water loss or face the possibility of the state taking over the water system and raising rates to balance the books.

Rye Engineering crews are using acoustic listening devices that enable a technician to listen to water flow through a pipe.

Rye said while some leaks have been found, some older meters have been found to have slowed down significantly.

“That’s just as bad as a leak because water is passing through the meter that the customer is not paying for,” he said.

At this point, Rye and his staff cannot say with certainty how much water is being lost in the leaks found, but he said they can estimate by comparing the sound of the leaks with that of other leaks, and their volumes, they have found in the past.

His initial estimate is about 12 million gallons of water lost per year from the leaks found so far. That amount would equate to about $28,000 of lost revenue annually, he said, reminding board members it is only a preliminary estimate.

“In the long run, it was well worth our efforts to do this,” said Commissioner Tim Alsobrooks.

De-annexation

Board attorney Sid Vinson told commissioners a matter has arisen which will require them to “de-annex” a small portion of the city that reaches into Stewart County.

City Finance Director Nancy Cobb explained that Houston County Administrator of Elections Gay Robinson informed her that, because the city includes property in Stewart County, the city would have to pay Tennessee Ridge elections to be placed on the Stewart County ballot so residents living in the annexed area could vote for their city commissioner.

At present, no one lives on the three to four acres of the city that is within Stewart County, which is near the intersection of Highway 49 and Green Shanty Road.

Vinson said when the portion was annexed in 1970, city leaders may not have known where the county line was in that area, adding that technology did not exist then as now.

“But I’ve heard some surveyor say they don’t know exactly where the county line is out there,” he said.

Vinson said while it does not involve very much land, the area in question does include more than one parcel.

He said there is a de-annexation procedure, which primarily involves a public hearing on the matter. He added that he already has an ordinance drawn up but the hearing must first be held before any action can be taken.

Cobb said she would set up the hearing to be just prior to the board’s next meeting on Aug. 4.